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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Trade unions call on FIFA to deprive Qatar of World Cup

International trade unions have called on world soccer body
FIFA to deprive Qatar of its right to host the 2022 World Cup because it has
failed to end what they term 21st century slavery and adopt international
labor standards for the Gulf state’s more than one million foreign workers.

In a letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter dated April 16,
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Sharan Burrow asserted that
discussions with Qatari authorities since FIFA awarded Qatar the World Cup in a
controversial December 2010 vote have produced no results.

Ms Burrow
said the ITUC had obtained a copy of a Charter for Migrant Workers that was
drafted by Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee. She said the trade union was
disappointed by the drafting process in which the committee failed to consult
unions as well as its content. Sources said the draft charter was continuously
being revised.

In a press
release, the ITUC, which refuses to publish the draft charter, charged that it “shows
contradictions with Qatari law and fails to give workers any real rights or
protection from slavery conditions.” ITUC did not detail the legal
contradictions.

Speaking in
a telephone interview, Ms Burrow said ITUC’s campaign to take the World Cup
away from Qatar was an effort to “escalate pressure” on the Gulf state. She
said the ITUC would consider ways of stepping up pressure on FIFA and Qatar if
the soccer body failed to opt for a revote of the awarding of the World Cup to
Qatar latest at its general assembly in Mauritius at the end of May.

“The
government of Qatar has had two years to do two things: introduce freedom of
association and the kafala (sponsorship) system that effectively mounts to 21st
century slavery. The government has done nothing. How long are we supposed to
wait and listen to the same things? Three years? Five years? Ms Burrow said.
She was referring to the widely criticized sponsorship system common to various
Gulf states that effectively deprives workers of their free choice and gives
employees full control over their employees.

Ms Burrow
asserted that “hundreds of workers are dying and thousands more are injured in
Qatar” as a result of its failure to adhere to international labour standards. “FIFA
must act now- the longer the delay, the more workers will suffer and die,” she
said.

The union
official said the demand to deprive Qatar of the World Cup was boosted by the corruption
scandals overshadowing FIFA and world soccer that have yet to produce evidence
of wrongdoing on the part of the Gulf state as well as debate on whether the
tournament in Qatar should be moved to the winter months because of the region’s
extreme summer heat.

The demand
to deprive Qatar of the World Cup constitutes a change of union tactics. While
the ITUC has threatened to call on its 175 million members in 153 countries to
boycott Qatar at a time that it is expected to recruit up to a million
additional workers to construct billions of dollars in World Cup-related
infrastructure, it had initially said it would first put Qatari promises to the
litmus test.

These
promises included a legally non-binding oral pledge in November by Qatari Labour
Minister Nasser bin Abdulla Alhumidi to effectively allow the formation of
independent trade unions. "After a full and frank discussion, Qatar's
labour minister assured me that if workers want to establish a union he will
make sure that those who decide to join a union will not be punished. We will
test him on that," Ms Burrow said at the time. ITUC officials said
subsequently that they were preparing to establish a union in Qatar later this
year.

To be sure,
few analysts or labour and human rights activists expect Qatar to allow free
and independent trade unions and to accept the principle of collective
bargaining – the two major issues dividing Qatar and the union.

In a bid to
fend off union demands, Qatar has moved to improve workers’ living and working
conditions. It is seeking to ensure enforcement of safety and security
standards, monitor on-time salary payments, reduce the number of workers living
in one room from eight to four, and is building a city for workers that would
include hitherto non-existent recreational facilities. It is also reviewing
much criticized recruitment procedures that reinforce the sponsorship system
and leave workers heavily indebted.

In a
break with Gulf reluctance to give foreign nationals a stake in their host
nations, Qatar’s soccer league said this month that it plans to create a league
for un- and low-skilled guest workers who account for the majority of the
country’s population. The decision follows this month’s successful organization
of a soccer tournament for foreign workers deprived of relaxation and
entertainment facilities. The league would involve 32 clubs, double the number
that competed in the tournament.

In a region in which lop-sided demography is the elephant in
the room when it comes to the future of the smaller states, Adil Ahmad who was identified by a Gulf newspaper as executive director of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) was quoted as saying in what would be an
almost revolutionary statement that the idea of the foreign workers’ league was
“to give low-income workers a sense of belonging in the country they serve.” Hani Taleb Ballan, the QSL deputy director was quoted as saying that the league would workers give “a fair
opportunity to enjoy the life they had in their countries of origin in Asia and
Africa”.

In an email, the QSL denied that Mr. Ahmed was a QSL employee or had any authority to speak on beahlf of the League. "He has no business within the Qatar Stars League and therefore cannot be quoted as a member of the QSL's upper management," the email said. The QSL also denied that Mr. Ballan had commented on the issue.

Qatar University sociologist Kaltham Al Al-Ghanim recently
called on the country’s sports clubs to set up branches in the capital’s Industrial
Zone where many of foreign workers are housed “to channel their energy to
productive avenues and hunt for sporting talent.” She cautioned that if foreign
workers were allowed to “live on the social fringes, the danger is they would
take to illegal activities and emerge as a threat to social security.” Ms. Al-Ghanim
argued further that this would offer Qatari clubs an opportunity to spot local
talent.

Smaller Gulf states whose nationals constitute a minority of
the population have until now gone out of their way to ensure that foreigners
have no sense of belonging out of fear that this would encourage them to stand
up for their rights.

Critics of the ITUC’s demand to deprive Qatar of
the World Cup charged that the union was being sensationalist and that there
was still room for negotiation. “The ITUC makes the situation look a lot
simpler than it is. The situation is not black and white. They are being
sensationalist,” said an independent labor analyst.

The critics charged that the ITUC’s demand robbed it of the
leverage it had obtained with the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar. Human
rights groups have long criticized Qatar and other Gulf states for their labor
practices. But unlike the ITUC they never had more than moral leverage. Qatar’s
dependence on foreign labor for its World Cup infrastructure enhances the ITUC’s
power given that it in contrast to the human rights activists can mobilize
millions of people.

“What happens to the workers if Qatar loses the World Cup?
The ITUC loses its bargaining chip. Moreover, they are campaigning for taking
away the World Cup even before the bids for construction of stadiums have been
awarded. Qatar’s construction boom will continue with or without the World Cup.
Even if they lose those workers, others will come. It’s the market’s push and
pull factor. If the Nepalese don’t come, the Bangladeshis will. If the
Bangladeshis don’t come, the Vietnamese will and if the Vietnamese don’t come,
the Chinese will,” the analyst said.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies, director of the University of Würzburg’s
Institute of Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer blog

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile